CERVICAL AMYLOIDOMA OF C2 - CASE-REPORT AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Study Design. Second published report of a patient with amyloidoma of the upper cervical spine. Objective. To describe a patient with rare r adiculopathy to alert other physicians to consider amyloid tumor as a differential diagnosis of locally destructive spine lesions. Summary o f Background Data. Localized amyloid tumor of the bone is a rare disea se. Only seven cases of spine involvement have been reported. Appropri ate tissue sampling is required to establish the diagnosis. Histopatho logic examination shows pathognomonic apple-green birefringence under polarized light. When bone is involved with amyloid, it is most common ly associated with multiple myeloma or other plasma cell-dyscrasias. M ethod. This case was described, and pertinent literature was reviewed. Results. The patient showed persistent neurologic improvement after t ransoral complete tumor removal, followed by a secondary posterior sta bilization procedure using transarticular C1-C2 screws. Conclusions. A myloidomas are benign lesions with no associated documented risk for t he development of plasmocytoma-related diseases. The clinical and radi ographic manifestations of this lesion are nonspecific. A cure is poss ible with complete resection of the tumor and no adjuvant management p rocedures.